atomistic

/,ætə'mistik/

Thân thiện

An atomistic approach to the problem focuses on its individual components.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Divided into separate and often disparate elements: Describes something that is composed of distinct, individual parts that are considered in isolation rather than as part of a connected whole. This perspective emphasizes the components over the system.
   • Relating to atomism or the theory that complex systems are best understood by analyzing their simplest, constituent parts: Pertaining to the philosophical or methodological approach that explains phenomena by breaking them down into their most basic, indivisible units.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • The researcher took an atomistic approach, studying each neuron independently before considering the brain's overall function.
  • Some critics argue that his atomistic view of society ignores the importance of community and social bonds.
  • The atomistic model of physics, which described matter as composed of tiny particles, was a major step in scientific thought.

Advanced Usage

• "Atomistic individualism": A philosophical or political viewpoint that sees society as merely a collection of separate individuals, with no inherent collective identity or common good beyond the sum of individual interests.

  • The policy was criticized for being based on atomistic individualism, neglecting how community support systems function.

• "Atomistic competition": In economics, a market structure characterized by a large number of small, independent buyers and sellers, where no single participant can influence the market price.

  • Perfect competition is an atomistic market model with many negligible participants.

Variants and Related Words

• Atomism (n): The theory that complex ideas, social structures, or physical matter arise from the combination of simple, indivisible parts.

  • Ancient Greek atomism proposed that the universe was composed of invisible, indestructible particles.

• Atomistically (adv): In a manner that involves separating something into its basic, constituent parts.

  • The problem was analyzed atomistically, which provided detailed data but missed the bigger picture.

Synonyms

• Reductionist: Explaining complex phenomena by reducing them to simpler or more fundamental levels.
• Particularistic: Focusing on individual elements or cases rather than on general principles or the whole.
• Discrete: Individually separate and distinct.

Antonyms

• Holistic: Emphasizing the importance of the whole and the interdependence of its parts.
• Systemic: Relating to or affecting an entire system.
• Integrative: Combining parts into a whole.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. divided into separate and often disparate elements

Từ đồng nghĩa

• atomistical